Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument

Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
The breaks of the Upper Missouri River National Monument
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Location	Chouteau, Fergus, Blaine, and Phillips counties, Montana, U.S.
Nearest city	Great Falls
Coordinates	47°47′0″N 109°1′17″W / 47.78333°N 109.02139°W / 47.78333; -109.02139
Area	377,000 acres (1,530 km2)[1]
Established	January 17, 2001
Visitors	63,512 (in 2002)
Governing body	U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Website	Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument

The Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument is a national monument in the western United States, protecting the Missouri Breaks of north central Montana. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), it is a series of badland areas characterized by rock outcroppings, steep bluffs, and grassy plains; a topography referred to as "The Breaks" (as the land appears to "break away" to the river).^[2]

Created by proclamation in 2001 by President Bill Clinton on January 17, it encompasses 377,000 acres (589 sq mi; 1,526 km²),^[1] of public lands, most of which were already managed by the federal government. The adjacent Missouri River was designated a Wild and Scenic River in 1976 and forms a western boundary while the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge is to the east. The Breaks country was a model for many of the paintings done by painter Charles M. Russell.